Rountree Fifth Graders Create Paper Cranes for Japanese Fall Festival

Students at Rountree Elementary participated in the annual Japanese Fall Festival remembrance of Peace Day with their “Owls’ Cranes for Peace” project.

The students created 1,000 paper cranes to represent peace in the world, modeled after a book they studied called “Sadako and the Thousand Cranes.” The book talks about Sadako Sasaki, who developed leukemia after the bombing of Hiroshima. Sasaki spent her time after the diagnosis building paper cranes, completing about 650 before her death at age 12. Her friends and family completed the 1,000 cranes and buried her with them.

Every year in Japan, Peace Day is celebrated on August 5. Children leave garlands of paper cranes on a statue that was built to honor Sadako.

The students encouraged those who attended the event to choose a crane and write wishes for a peaceful world.